


Under The Skin

by inlovewithnight



Category: Bandom, Cobra Starship, Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Heroes
Genre: Canon Jewish Character, Collection: Purimgifts Day 3, Friendship, Gen, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-21
Updated: 2013-02-21
Packaged: 2017-11-30 00:35:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/693323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inlovewithnight/pseuds/inlovewithnight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabe's not afraid of a little pain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Under The Skin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alpheratz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alpheratz/gifts).



Gabe stretches out on his stomach, resting his chin on his arms. Pete's sitting on the dining-room table, his legs loosely around Travie's waist while Travie adds a Black Cards ace of spades to Pete's sleeve.

"Ow," Pete sing-songs. "Ow ow ow."

"You love it," Travie murmurs, making another methodical pass across the shape.

Gabe loves watching them do this. He loves seeing the black lines bloom against Pete's skin, loves Travie's intent face and the careful movements of his hands, the tension in the tendons and bones. Travie's hands are careful with Pete, keeping the needle a controlled pain. 

"I'm with Trav," Gabe says. "You love it."

Pete rolls his eyes. "You're next, Saporta."

Gabe turns onto his back and stares at the ceiling. He's not afraid of a little pain. What he _might_ be afraid of -- can't say for sure yet -- is having ghosts under his skin that won't go away. He's heard Pete talk enough times about how some of his tattoos are ugly reminders now, things he wishes he could peel off and toss away. Once you ink it on, though, you can't get your fingers under it to dig it out again. It's _there_. Permanent.

The flip side of that is if it's a friendly ghost, not an ugly one, it's there forever, and you can't lose it. It can't walk away from you. Some of Pete's tattoos are like that, too. And his matching ink with Travie -- they can't lose each other, not ever. Gabe's so jealous of that, he could spit sometimes.

"Like a thousand years ago," he says, blinking slowly to watch his own eyelashes scatter the light, "I would totally have you tattoo me all over with, like, half the Talmud. My whole body in Hebrew. And then I'd wander the earth as a mystic and preach to all the people."

"That's sort of like what you do now," Pete says thoughtfully. "Ow."

Gabe frowns and turns his head toward him. "Not really. I'm not a holy man."

"Well, no, but kinda." Pete bites his lip and tilts his head back, riding that part of the pain where he's totally getting off on it and won't admit it. Gabe gets a little jealous of that part, too. He could do that. "Except instead of preaching mysticism you're preaching... parties. And stuff."

"Yeah, the Talmud isn't so much into parties." Gabe sighs and looks up again. "Nobody gets to be a mystic anymore. We live in a practical world. All of the magic is gone."

"Morbid-ass fucker," Travie mutters. "Pete. Take a breath."

Pete heaves a sigh and drops his legs from Travie's waist. "So be the one to start it over again. Let Travie do you up all mystic. I'll watch and put pictures on Instagram."

Travie looks over at Gabe, squinting, eyeing the length of his body. Gabe can almost see him projecting lines over all the unmarked skin. "You'd have to write the Hebrew out for me, Gabey, but yeah, I could do that. It would take, like, a couple years, but it would be pretty badass."

"So badass." Pete nods. "Start with his face. Right across the forehead."

Travie rolls his eyes and grabs Pete's wrist, turning it so he can study his arm. "I'm gonna touch up some of your old stuff, Pete."

Pete frowns. "Are you ignoring my brilliant ideas?" 

"I don't think Gabe wants Hebrew across his forehead, baby boy. And I think you've got fading all over the place."

It's not that Gabe always wants to be the one to bring down the room, but sometimes his knucklehead brothers need a reminder of reality. "If I had any visible tattoos, Hebrew or not, it would break my Abuela's heart."

"Oh, that's what my mom said, too," Pete says dismissively. "Trust me, they get over it."

Knucklehead setting at defcon one, apparently. "Not my Abuela whose family moved across the ocean to get away from the Nazis, Pete."

Pete winces harder than he does for the needles. "Shit. Sorry."

"It's cool." Gabe turns onto his stomach again and rests his chin on his arms. "Well, I mean, it's not, but you and me, we're cool."

Pete nods and they wave their fists at each other like they'd bump them if they were close enough.

"Tattoos are forbidden in Judaism, actually, anyway," Gabe goes on. "Leviticus."

Pete frowns. "I thought Leviticus was a fundamentalist Christian thing." 

Gabe laughs. "You've got no idea. I'm not explaining the whole history of the texts, but let's just say Leviticus falls in an overlap zone."

"I'm not doing philosophy and religion 101 today," Travie says firmly. "You two want to do that, you wait until I'm done fixing Pete's ink up and I'll go out to the pool."

"No, we're all going to the pool." Pete frowns again. "Wait a minute. Gabe. You have a tattoo. That cat on your ankle."

"Yeah." Gabe grins Travie choruses with him, both of them pushing their voices up toward falsetto. "Also into cats! Also into cats!"

"Fuck you," Pete says. "And you just said tattoos are forbidden, so how come you have one?"

"Dude." Gabe slowly gets to his feet, wincing as his back cracks. He's turning into an old man faster and faster, and it's not fair. "Have I ever let anybody tell me what to do, much less a bunch of dead guys? Fuck Leviticus, man."

Travie looks at him and raises an eyebrow. "Even god can't tell you what to do?"

"Nope. I do what I want."

"Even _Pete_ can't tell you what to do?"

"Nope."

"Bullshit," Pete and Travie say at once.

Gabe flips them off with both hands. "I'm going to the kitchen. Who wants a beer?"

"Beers for everyone," Pete says. "And, hey, if you're such a rebel, why's the cat where nobody can see it?"

Gabe shakes his head. "There's defying my god and then there's upsetting my grandma, dude. I'm not _stupid_."

 

**Author's Note:**

> Image inspired by asofterworld.com. Text from "Fool Like Me."


End file.
